Looking for Penelope
by ricaruns
Summary: After 20 years, Dylan Garcia decides to look for his sister Penelope.
1. Chapter 1

Dylan Garcia looked at his two daughters playing in the next room. He remembered when he played with his little sister, well technically step sister, but technicalities didn't diminish how much he loved Penny. It broke his heart that he hadn't seen his little sister in almost two decades. The last time he saw her was at the funeral for his father and step-mother. His eldest brother, Elijah, blamed Penny for causing the deaths of their parents, and since Elijah was the oldest and the loudest, the other brothers followed his lead. Essentially, Dylan and his three brothers disowned their sister who had shared their house for fifteen years, leaving their eighteen old sister to fend for self with no other family. Dylan and Joshua tried to sway Elijah not to walk away from their sister; they were the only family she knew, but Elijah was stubborn and Alexander was a little more neutral. It killed Dylan, Joshua and Alexander to walk away from their little sister with tears running down her face, while it seemed that Elijah didn't care.

Elijah was vehemently opposed to their father, Juan, marrying Adrianna, especially since Adrianna already had a toddler, while the other brothers were excited to have a mother and a baby sister. Papa always said he wanted a little girl, but he wasn't able to have a daughter with his first wife, Anna Maria, before she died of cancer. Adrianna loved all the boys like they were own, and she was pleased to see that the boys adored Penelope. Adrianna was also happy that Juan was a far better father to Penelope than her biological father would have been. When Juan married Adrianna he promised to love Penelope as his own and adopted her at age 3, just after his wedding to Adrianna.

For fifteen years, Juan lived a good life-he had four handsome sons, an adorable and feisty daughter and a wonderful wife, all of this was taken away from him in the blink of an eye by a drunk driver. Penelope had always been feisty even at the tender of age 2, when Juan first met her, and it seemed that the feistiness only got stronger as the years went on; coming to head during her teenage years. Penelope began pushing buttons, and one day she broke curfew, which ended up changing the lives of the Garcia family forever.

Dylan blinked the tears out his eyes thinking about the last time he saw Penny. He looked at his little girls and some of their gestures remind him so much of Penelope, and it truly killed him that his girls never got to meet their Aunt Penelope. The thought of his beautiful little girls growing up without knowing anything about Penelope was incomprehensible, and resolved to fix that, starting tomorrow. Dylan was so consumed with figuring out how to get into contact with his that sister that he totally forgot about going to bed. His wife, Nicole, was confused when her husband didn't come to bed because that was so unlike him. She walked into the living room and saw her husband sitting on the couch staring into space. Nicole sat next to Dylan and asked what was bothering him. Dylan shook the cobwebs out his head and responded, "Did you know I have a little sister and I haven't seen her in almost 20 years…and I can't bear the thought of Isabel and Laura growing up without knowing their aunt…so I'm going to find her and apologize…and tell her I love her…" Nicole was floored, she had no idea that Dylan had a sister; she knew Dylan's parents were killed by a drunk driver roughly 20 years ago; she had met all of his brothers at various family functions, and her daughters had spent time with their cousins. The gears started to turn in Nicole's head-his parents were killed almost 20 years ago and Dylan hadn't seen his sister in the same amount of time. "Is the last time you saw your sister related to the death of your parents?"

"Yes. Penelope broke curfew and my parents went to go find her. While they were looking for her, they were hit by a drunk driver, dying instantly. The last time I saw her was the funeral, as the four of us walked away while she had tears streaming down her face. You know Elijah-hard headed and stubborn, he blamed Penny for their deaths, which is sorta true, but that is no reason to walk away from our little sister. She spent fifteen years living with us, and we leave her to fend for self at 18 with no other family. I want you know that it killed me to walk away from her, I wanted her to come live with me. I adored Penny and it went against everything Papa taught us to leave Penny, but since Elijah was the oldest and consequently the loudest, we walked away with heavy hearts. I'm not sure if Elijah was as affected since he was against Papa marrying Mom."

Nicole asked "Marrying your mom?"

"Technically she was my step-mom, but she was the only mom I ever knew. Mama died when I was 5, and Papa married mom when I was 7, Josh was 9, Alex was 11 and Elijah was 14." "What about Penelope?"

"Technically, she is my step-sister, Papa adopted her after he married mom; Penny was only 3. Papa always wanted a little girl, and he absolutely adored Penelope & she adored him. She adored all of us including Elijah; he eventually came around to openly loving Penelope. It must have been so funny to see the 4 Hispanic boys running around and a cute little blonde running after us, yelling for us to stop so she could play with us."

"Why was Elijah against your dad marrying your mom?"

"He didn't think the races should mix. No one had married a gringo for generations in our family and Elijah thought that Papa was ignoring mama's memory by marrying Adrianna. It also irked him that Adrianna had a daughter from another relationship. It is one thing to marry to a gringa, it is another thing to marry a gringa with a daughter. He also believed that if Papa wanted a daughter, he should have had one with mom as opposed to adopting Penelope and raising her as his own. "

"But Penelope was just a little girl"

"I know. Alex, Josh and I were so excited that mom had a little girl because we wanted a little sister. Penny was so adorable and so smart, mom and Papa were so proud of her."

"It sounds like you really miss her."

"I do. I am going to figure out a way to get back in touch with her, so our girls can know their Aunt Penelope and so I can give my little sister a hug."

"How are you going to find her?"

"Use my computer skills."

"Won't it hard to find a Penelope Garcia in California? There have to be thousands of Penelope Garcias in California."

"You're right. I'm sure there are lots of Penelope Garcias in California. But I highly doubt there that many Penelope Leia Garcias in California."

"What if she no longer lives in California?'

"Then I keep looking until I find Penny. I have got to find her and tell her how sorry I am and how much I love her."

"I'm sure you will find her my love. It is time to go to bed. Computer geniuses need sleep so that they can do their best."

"You're right. Let's go to bed"

It took Dylan a week to find Penelope. He was surprised to find out his sister lived in Virginia and worked for the FBI; the FBI seemed so unlike like the Penelope he knew, but maybe things had changed in 20 years.


	2. Chapter 2

**Author's note : I do not own Criminal Minds. This is an AU story. The Beth arc happened, but Hotch and Beth only went on a few dates before parting ways and Emily never left. **

While Dylan had computer skills, he lacked the skills of Penelope; also he was bound by some more legal issues than Penelope. He worked at a large law office that specialized in divorces. Dylan was tasked with finding hidden assets that feuding couples were hiding from each other. Dylan knew the best way to find someone was to look up where their cell phone bill went to, and that is how he found his beloved little sister. He started in California then moved to the West Coast, finding nothing, and then he remembered what Nicole said about Penelope no longer living in California, and so he expanded his search to include the entire United States. Never for a moment did Dylan Garcia consider that his sister was dead, it just wasn't possible. It took him a week to find the right Penelope Leia Garcia, born September 21st, 1975 living in Manassas, Virginia. Dylan was debating if he should call his sister or try and find her email to contact her. He finally decided to call her, and hope Penny wouldn't think it was a joke.

Dylan anxiously dialed Penelope's cell phone. Listening to it ring once, twice and then after three times, it was picked up by a little boy not his sister.

"Miss Penelope's phone"

"Can I speak to your mom?"

Logic would dictate that the little boy answering his sister's cell phone was her son, not her honorary nephew, who is one step away from being her son.

"Umm…you can't. She lives with the Angels, but I can get you Aunt Penelope"

Aunt Penelope!? As far as Dylan knew, not a single one of his brothers had contact with Penelope since the funeral. The fact that there was a little boy calling his sister Aunt, made him ponder what Penelope's life has been like since her brothers left her to fend for herself.

"Jack, who are you talking to?"

"I don't know, he asked to speak to my mom, after I said Miss Penelope's phone like Daddy taught me."

"Ok. I'll take care of it. Go grab a movie to watch"

"Ok Aunt Penny. I love you"

"I love you too Jackster"

Dylan heard this exchange, and he was overjoyed to learn that his sister got to experience the love of child.

"Hello this is Penelope"

"Penny! Is that really you?"

"Dylan?! Dylan?! Dylan, please say it is really you."

"Of course it is me. I can prove it to you, when you were six, you saved a stray dog and named it Callie, after Bobby's sister."

"Oh Dylan, it really is you. I've missed you so much. Are you still in California?"

"I missed you too Penny. I still live in California about 30 minutes from where we grew up."

"Not that I don't enjoy talking to you, but I am wondering why you reached out to me after all these years?"

"I realized that I couldn't let my daughters grow up without knowing their Aunt Penelope. And I missed you and I wanted to tell you I'm sorry and I love you."

"I have nieces? That is so awesome. I love you."

"Aunt Penny, come watch Finding Nemo with me"

"Sorry brother, I have to a movie to watch. I will call you later. Give your girls my love. Bye bye I love you"

"Bye. Love you."

"Aunt Penny, who were you talking to?"

"My brother, Dylan, who I haven't spoken to in almost 20 years"

"Why haven't you spoken to your brother in so long? Daddy talks to Uncle Sean a lot"

"I know he does, and Sean is a very lucky that his brother talks to him so often. When I was teenager, my parents were killed in a car accident. The last time I spoke to my brothers was the funeral for my parents, and after that I was on my own until I came to work with your Daddy."

"That wasn't very nice that your brothers left you alone. Daddy says you look after family."

"Your daddy is right. You are supposed to look after family, which is why I look after everyone and worry when they go into the field."

"But Daddy is superman."

"I know he is, but I still worry about him and Uncle Derek, Uncle Spencer, Aunt JJ and Aunt Emily when they are at work"

"Aunt Penny, do you miss your mom and dad?"

"Yes I do my mini G-man. I miss them every day."

"Do you think they are up in heaven with the Angels like mommy?"

" I am sure of it. My parents are up there with your mommy looking down on us."

"Can I sit next to you and watch Finding Nemo with you?"

"Of course. Let me get me some water for the both of us and you can you start the movie."

Penelope gave Jack a kiss on his head before heading to the kitchen. Jack was patiently waiting for Penelope to start the movie. Penelope and Jack snuggled up to enjoy the adventures of Nemo and his friends.

When Aaron got home from their latest case in Bend, Oregon, he found Penelope and Jack snuggled up on the couch, with the TV and the DVD player still on, which warmed his heart every time he saw it. He gently woke up Jack to take him to bed. After putting Jack to bed, Aaron woke up Penelope, the woman he loved and who managed to brighten even his darkest days. Without Penelope, Aaron would not have been able to survive the whole Foyet ordeal or the stress the FBI placed on Hotch's shoulders.

"C'mon my love time for bed."

"Mmkay Aaron. My brother called tonight. I'll tell you all about it in the morning."

Aaron was concerned to hear that Penelope's brother called her since he knew she had not spoken to any of her brothers since her parents' deaths nearly 20 years before, and he was worried that Penelope would start to repair the relationship with her brother and he would back out at some point, leaving Penelope devastated. Aaron would do anything and everything in his power to prevent Penelope from being hurt, whether physically or emotionally; he strove to do this as her team leader and as her boyfriend. Regardless of how this thing with her brother turned out, Aaron would be beside her every step of the way.

Aaron went up to his bedroom and saw Penelope curled up on her side of the bed wearing one of his old SWAT team t shirts. He went to his dresser and pulled out his pjs, kissed Penelope goodnight and fell asleep dreaming of little girls with Penelope's hair and his brown eyes.


End file.
